Trump and Michelle Wolf Spar on Twitter After WHCD Announcement

It’s official: Next year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner will not feature a good old-fashioned roasting by a comedian. In a statement, the White House Correspondents’ Association announced today that it has selected author and presidential biographer Ron Chernow as the speaker of 2019’s ceremony, confirming earlier speculation that both the White House and journalists can’t take a joke in today’s political climate — especially not a joke about smoky eyes by Michelle Wolf.

“The White House Correspondents’ Association has asked me to make the case for the First Amendment, and I am happy to oblige. Freedom of the press is always a timely subject and this seems like the perfect moment to go back to basics,” Chernow said on the news. “My major worry these days is that we Americans will forget who we are as a people and historians should serve as our chief custodians in preserving that rich storehouse of memory. While I have never been mistaken for a stand-up comedian, I promise that my history lesson won’t be dry.”

Michelle Wolf responded to the news on Twitter, saying, “The @whca are cowards. The media is complicit. And I couldn’t be prouder.”

Update, November 21: Donald Trump decided to weigh in on this new WHCD tradition on — where else? — Twitter. He said the switch was because Michelle Wolf “bombed so badly” at this year’s event. “Good first step in comeback of a dying evening and tradition! Maybe I will go?” he added.

So-called comedian Michelle Wolf bombed so badly last year at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that this year, for the first time in decades, they will have an author instead of a comedian. Good first step in comeback of a dying evening and tradition! Maybe I will go?